Tommy Youngsteen at the Horseshoe Tavern

What is Tommy Youngsteen? A large group of some of Canada’s most talented musicians from bands such as Stars, Sloan, Arkells, Sam Roberts band, and more that get together and play some of the finest hits from Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, and Tom Petty. This past Friday, they played the best of Springsteen at the Horseshoe Tavern, with a 9 piece band.

Lead singer Alan Snoddy and the rest of the band took the stage around 11pm, and from there on it was truly a party. The Horseshoe was packed, and the crowd consisted of an even mixture of the young and old, which was interesting to see such an even split.

They opened the show with “Does This Bus Stop At 82th Street?”, displaying Snoddy’s killer vocals, and all of the impressively talented musicians along side him. Id have to say one of the highlights was the brass section, was that ever impressive, especially during “Born To Run”, which was a flawless performance. They played a variety of hits in the first act such as “Working On The Highway”, “Cover Me”, and “Glory Days”, which was great but- the second portion of the set definitely was killer. After the short break, the band came back with an even better energy, it was as though they became much more comfortable with the crowd and each-other and you could feel it in the room.

The second half included hits “Born in the U.S.A”, “From Small Things”, “Dancing In The Dark”, and “Born to Run” of course. My only complaint is that I was really hoping they would play “Hungry Heart”, I would have loved to see that as Ive heard this bands rendition of it is amazing. Other than that, the setlist was killer and kept the crowd dancing the whole night and through both acts.

Tommy Youngsteen is a must-see Canadian cover band. I love the idea that the lineup is never the exact same, similar to the idea “Broken Social Scene”. Although its never the same, going into the show you know its going to be filled with great Canadian talent and its so exciting wondering who will be there and how the show will be. If you’re a Springsteen fan, this cover band is a must not only because of the talent, but the price you pay to see so much talent in a more intimate setting.